Shattered
by Fatima Kenobi Skywalker
Summary: Axel is a runaway winged freak from the freakshow/circus that Xehanort and his brothers run. With the help of Xion, Ventus, Roxas, Vanitas and Sora, he might be able to find out just who he is exactly as a person. Rated T for safety!
1. Night of Fate

Axel struggled as he tried to flap his wings, trying to get himself off of the ground and back to the safety of the thermals that carried him away from the circus. Now, his wings felt like lead because of the unforgiving rain soaking his feathers, causing them to become waterlogged and heavy. He felt a sharp pain on his left wing, so he turned around and looked. He silently cursed as he saw the damage on his wing.

His left wing was a bloody mess. From the fall that he took when he was shot down, he had landed heavily on the fragile bones, causing them to snap, but because they were so light, he barely even felt it. But it was mostly the bullet that shot him that caused his wing to be so bloody. The bullet was lodged deep in the fingerlike appendages of his wings, and because it was lined with both silver and a bit of gold, the bleeding on his wing couldn't stop. He was incredibly allergic to those two precious metals, although why he still has no idea.

He quit moving around when he heard the men yelling, barking orders like dogs as they tried to search for him. He tucked in his wings and ran deeper into the forest, making sure that the blood drops won't be so noticeable.

Axel eventually reached the end of his endurance. Being part of a freak show doesn't necessarily mean that he gets to work out very often, much less eat. He'd be lucky to even have a near empty bowl of moldy rice or the peanuts that get thrown at him from the audience.

"Over there!" a man yelled as he found one of Axel's bloody feathers. "He shouldn't have gotten very far."

Axel looked behind his shoulder and saw them coming. He looked up at the nearest oak tree, trying to find something that can let him clamber up its trunk. Fate was on his side, for he found a slightly low branch that he can grab. He jumped up, slightly using his wings for an extra boost, and clung on to the branch tightly. He swung his leg over the branch, and tucked in his legs to hide them from sight. He looked up to see more branches acting like a natural ladder, with it being very dense with branches and foliage near the middle. He scrambled over to the center, pressing himself close to one of the branches to hide him.

"Where did he go?" one of them, a man named Braig, told his companion, a bear of a man, Aeleus.

"Like I'm supposed to know!" Aeleus answered gruffly. He is also one of the freaks in the circus, but he was treated with respect because he was brothers with the man who ran the circus, Xehanort.

"He couldn't have gotten far. He didn't even eat anything." Ienzo said as he walked up to them, holding a flashlight. "He wouldn't have the energy to keep moving."

"Alright then, Mr. Know-It-All," Braig teased as he looked around for more tracks, his unnatural pointy ears showing. He was also part of the show, but he was related to Xehanort too, meaning that he isn't mistreated.

All of Xehanort's brothers were deformed in some way, including him, letting them become their own freak show. As their business grew, they bought, kidnapped, or surgically deform people to add on to their show so it won't bore the audiences. Axel was found by accident, when he was trying to steal some bread for himself. His unnatural spiky bright crimson hair and brilliant, piercing green eyes caught their attention, but it was his strange wings on his back that truly made him an outcast. His wings had black appendages like that of a bat, so they could've called him a demon in the show, but instead of the leathery membrane that connects the appendages together, there were red feathers with black tips instead. So in the show, he was considered as the "Demonic Angel", or the "Fallen Angel".

"There's no way he could've just suddenly disappear like that," Braig hissed under his breath, scratching his head as he inspected the ground, looking for bloodspots or feathers. "He's incredibly injured; no one will help him out because he's a freak."

"Eh, just let him die out here from hypothermia or blood loss. He's not gonna survive on his own out here for a few days, much less hours." Ienzo said, trotting away from the group.

"Let him die?" Aeleus said, not totally excited about the idea. "I don't know about that idea, Ienzo. He's Xehanort's number one prize, and he always attracted so many people from all around. People always spent good money to see him, and he's the reason why we're the best."

"Well, I guess Xehanort will just have to live with it," Ienzo shot back, shaking his head clear of the rain. "He's nothing but trouble, anyways. It serves him right to die out here."

"Now that's just cold, shrimp," Braig said as he messed with Ienzo's hair, who just smacked his hand in response. "But I do have to agree with you on that. Come on, I'm through with looking out here in this downpour. I just want to go back where it's warm and finish my dinner. We can continue looking for him in the morning."

Axel poked his head over to see them walk away. He continued watching them until the bouncing light from their flashlight became a speck in the distance. He heaved a sigh of relief, glad that he finally over came that obstacle. Now he has an even bigger problem, which is surviving to the end of the night. He shivered violently, finally realizing just how cold he is. He was shirtless, wearing only a worn out pair of black jeans, black leather knee high boots, and a metal collar that they kept around his neck so he won't get away. The collar used to be attached to a chain, but Axel managed to break it during the middle of the show, right when he made his escape. The only thing that he's happy about the collar is that it's not made out of silver or gold, but of iron, and he's not allergic to iron.

"Well, I guess I'm sleeping hungry again tonight," Axel muttered to himself as he brought his left wing closer to him to find the bullet. "At least I'm not at the circus anymore." He continued to feel around, using whatever light the moon is showing to see where the bullet hole is. He found the hole, completely encrusted in blood, and tried to remove the bullet with his hands, but that only made it worse. Every time he tried to take it out, he would only bleed even more, and losing precious blood is something he can't do.

He eventually gave up after a few painful and bloody tries. He leaned against one of the thicker branches of the tree, making sure to lean on his right side so his left wing wouldn't get damaged even further. To protect himself from the rain, he placed his left wing over his shivering body, offering him some bit of warmth as well. He closed his eyes, trying to get some sleep, but his freezing body temperature prevented him from doing so. He hunched his body closer to his torso, gripping his legs to his chest to conserve precious body heat. After a few minutes of shaking violently, he closed his eyes shut, praying silently to whoever might be listening to a freak like him, to let him survive at least one night.

* * *

><p>Xion woke up with her brother Vanitas poking her on her shoulder. She didn't want to get up that morning, for her nice bed was extremely comfortable and warm that morning, and she didn't want to give him the satisfaction of her annoyance.<p>

"Xion! Wake up already! We're going to park today, remember?" Vanitas said as he pulled the covers away from her. She flinched at the sudden cool temperature.

"If I get up, will you stop bothering me for at least five minutes?" Xion said with her face buried in the pillows.

"Yes, just as long you get ready to go to the park now." Vanitas said as he ran out of her room to his other brother's rooms.

Xion sighed and got up reluctantly. She didn't want to leave the warmth of her bed, but she knew that Vanitas would be back, and with her other brothers, Ventus, Sora, and Roxas, as well. And besides, going to the park has always been the highlight of their spring and summer days, when they can eat all of the ice cream they pleased, and go to the circus that always comes around every year. This year, their parents finally agreed to let them go to the circus, and now the five children are even more excited than usual.

Xion took off her soft pink pajamas and wore a pair of blue jeans, her favorite purple shirt, a pair of her favorite rainbow striped colored socks, and her tennis shoes. She grabbed her soft dark blue scarf and wrapped it around her neck, knowing that it would probably be cold outside. After thinking for a while, she grabbed her oversized black turtleneck sweater as well, just in case it does get a bit colder than she thought.

She walked out of her room and down the stairs to the kitchen, where her brothers and parents were already eating breakfast. She quickly took her seat next to her mother, and started to eat what was her plate: eggs, bacon, waffles, hashbrowns, and strawberries.

"So is it true?" Sora asked excitedly to his father, Cloud, with his mouth full of waffles and syrup. "Are we really going to the circus today?"

"Sora, don't talk with your mouth full," his mother, Tifa, told him.

Cloud chuckled slightly, swallowing the food in his mouth before answering. "Now who told you that?"

"Vanitas!" Sora said as he pointed to his twin.

"Don't point at your brother, Sora," Tifa reminded her son again.

Cloud hid a smile as he took a sip of his coffee. "Yes, we're going to the circus today, but stay away from the freaks that they have on display there. You may never know when they will steal everything that you have."

"But there's no way they will try to steal anything from us. You're a police officer, remember Dad?" Sora continued.

"Yes, I know Sora, but even police will get robbed from thieves." Cloud said in a serious tone. "Many of the people in the circus are frauds, and would try to kidnap people to be part of their shows to."

"But not everyone in the circus is that bad?" Ventus asked, his chin dripping with sticky syrup. Tifa reached across the table and cleaned her son's chin, much to Ventus's annoyance.

"I don't know, Ven. There is so many scums working in the circuses, that it's hard to find an angel amongst demons." Cloud said as he drank more of his coffee.

"But what about all of the animals that they have?" Roxas asked innocently.

"Don't know son, but I'm pretty sure they're treated nicer than the freaks they have."

"Are the deformed people nice?" Xion finally asked. Silence settled over the table like a thick blanket of snow.

Cloud rubbed his forehead as he tried to come up with an answer to her question. "I don't know, Xion. So many of the deformed freaks are frauds, and are the equivalent of demons from the Inferno. So be careful when you're around them, sweetheart. I wouldn't want to lose my only daughter." After he said that, he reached over and ruffled Xion's black hair lightly.

"So are going or not?" Vanitas whined loudly.

"Yes, after you finish your breakfast," Cloud said as he continued to eat his breakfast. His children all started to eat faster after he said that.

* * *

><p>Xion walked around the park with her brothers, their parents sitting on one of the park benches, watching them play around the trees. Sora was trying to scale up the tree where Vanitas was camping out on, Roxas was trying to convince him that it was a bad idea, and Ventus was busy looking for birds with her. Ventus was usually the only brother whom she can relate to and get along easily with, besides his older twin, Roxas.<p>

"What birds do you think we're going to see today?" Xion asked her older brother. Xion is the youngest in her family, with Ventus being the one closest to her age.

"Probably a red cardinal if we're lucky," Ventus muttered as he stared at the tree branches, looking for the red bird.

Xion giggled slightly. "You always look for that bird every single year whenever we come here, yet we still never found it."

"Yet!" Ventus said as he stared hard at the different tree branches. "I won't give up looking for it until I see it for myself."

Xion rolled her eyes as she looked at the leaf filled branches with her brother. It was a hobby that they picked up from one of their dad's friends, Zack, who had once brought an entire photo album filled with just pictures of birds that he saw on his numerous trips around the world. They became so fascinated about the different, beautifully colored birds, that they had picked up the hobby and started to take pictures of the birds they saw as well, adding them to Zack's bird photo album whenever he comes to visit.

"I think we're gonna need to go deeper into the forest if we're gonna find that bird, Xi," Ventus said finally as he broke eye contact with the trees.

"You're gonna need to ask Mom and Dad to do that," Xion reminded her brother.

"Which is what I'm going to do," Ventus said as he turned around and ran back to his parents. Xion, not wanting to be left behind, followed her brother.

"Hey Mom! Dad!" Ventus said as he ran up to where they were. "Is it okay for us to farther into the woods so we can find the red cardinal?"

"Again?" his mother said with a questionable look on her face. "Weren't you looking for that bird last year, and the year before that, and the year before that?"

"Yeah, but today I have a really good feeling that I will find it today. So please? Can we?"

"Ven, you know I want you in my sights whenever we're here."

"I know, but I _really_ want to find that bird! It's the number one bird I always wanted to see in real life instead of on the TV!"

His mother sighed, unsure about what to say to her pleading son. Cloud on the other hand, took that duty off of her shoulders. "Sure, you can go, just as long as you don't go too far, okay? I heard that the circus is on the other side of the forest, but they won't open until later on."

Ventus only heard the first few words of what his dad told him. "Thanks Dad! We'll be back soon!" Ventus gave his dad a hug before scampering off into the forest again with Xion following after him.

"Ven, wait up a bit!" Xion said as she tried to catch up to her sprinting brother. Ven stopped under the tree where Vanitas was hiding in, waiting for his sister to catch up to him.

"Hey, where are you guys goin'?" Vanitas asked from the branches of the maple tree he's in.

"We're going deeper into the forest to find the red cardinal." Ventus replied to his brother.

"Again?" Sora said as he poked his head out from the same tree Vanitas was in. "You've been lookin' for that bird forever. You're never gonna find it!"

"Well, I think today is the day where I will find it! And I'll take a picture of it, and prove it to you that I did finally found it!" Ventus said as he started to march off deeper into the woods. Xion followed him wordlessly, facing Vanitas and Sora and twirling a finger over her temple and pointing at Ventus.

"Ven! Xi just called you crazy!" Sora ratted out to his brother.

"Not cool, Sora!" Xion yelled to her tree hugging brother.

"Stop yelling or else you're gonna scare all of the birds away!" Ventus hissed as he headed deeper into the woods. "Xi, are you coming or what?"

"Coming!" Xion said as she followed her brother into the woods, glaring at Sora as she went.

They walked into the forest, keeping their eyes peeled for anything red and their ears sharp for the whistles of the birds. The whole forest seemed to be holding its breath as they continued to look for the bird. No wind whistled in their ears, no songs from the birds floated in the air. It was the kind of silence where you can hear a pin drop from miles away. Ventus and Xion trotted lightly through the wet undergrowth, trying to be as silent as possible. They scanned the ground and the trees, looking for anything that shows the presence of the birds.

"Uhh… Ventus? Are you sure there are even any birds out here today?" Xion whispered, getting slightly unnerved about the deathly silence. Ventus gave no answer as he stared at something off in the distance. "Ven? Are you even listening-?"

"There!" Ventus exclaimed as silently as he could, pointing at something in the distance.

"What is it, Ven?" Xion said as she tried to find what her brother was pointing at.

Ventus said nothing as he crashed through the undergrowth to the spot he was pointing at earlier. He bent down on the wet undergrowth and picked up something in his hands. Xion raced over to him, curious to see what he had in his hands. She saw that he held a red feather with a black tip, soaked slightly from the rain and with some irregular splotches of dark red spots all over it. The feather was massive, and it took up all of the space of Ventus's palm. Xion looked up from the feather, and saw that the shrubs in front of her where covered with different spots of dark red. Xion was no botanist, but she was pretty sure that plants don't have spots on their leaves the color of dried blood.

"Uh, Ven, you should look at the shrubs in front of us." Xion said as she tugged on her brother's jacket.

"Why?" Ventus said, his eyes still glued on the feather.

"They're covered in dried blood."

"How do you know that it's blood?"

"Because I'm pretty sure plants don't have spots with drip marks on them, and have a trail of spots leading to somewhere."

"Eh?" Ventus looked up, and saw what Xion meant by the blood spots on the plants. His eyes followed the trail of blood, but it wasn't so easy because much of it was washed away from the rain.

"Do you think we should follow it?" Xion asked him.

"I don't know. It might lead to something dangerous." Ventus said as he got up and started to follow the trail anyway. Xion sighed as she followed her brother.

The crude trail of blood varied from light spots to large puddles to more of the massive feathers, which made it a difficult challenge for them. Had they not trained their eyes to detect the smallest of things from bird watching, they probably would've given up long ago. They reached the end of the trail, which lead up to the giant oak tree. Although the bark was darker than usual because of the rain, there were some streaks of blood on the branches. Xion and Ventus looked up at the tree in silence, wondering what to do next.

"I dare you to go up the tree." Xion said finally to Ventus.

"I double dare you to do it." Ventus responded.

"I triple dare you to do it."

"I double dog dare you."

"I triple dog dare you." Xion said as she reached the final and highest dare her siblings ever invented.

Ventus said nothing as he groaned in annoyance. He walked around the tree, trying to find a low branch for him to climb on. He finally found one, and he called Xion over to give him a boost. Xion did, and Ventus was soon clambering over on the branch. He lifted a leg on the branch and sat up on his seat. He looked behind him, to see that there were so many different spots of red hidden near the center of the tree. He also heard the sounds of light breathing.

"Uh, Xion? Either red cardinals are larger than I think, or there's something really huge and red here." Ventus called down to his sister.

"Really? Let me see!" Xion said as she raised her hands up for Ventus to grab. He grabbed her by the wrists, and dragged her over on the branch he is sitting on.

Xion looked over to where the sounds of something breathing were. "What is that thing?" she whispered to Ventus.

"I don't know. Come on, let's get closer and see what it is."

Ventus carefully scooted over to the center of the oak tree, silently removing the raindrop filled branches out of his way. They soon came upon a thing with a huge wing covering its body. Blood was soaked all over the wing, and there was a small pool collected at the base. Ventus could see that although it was covered with feathers like the one he found, there was something abnormal about it. The wing had black appendages like a bat wing, with small red-orange accents on them that slightly resembled tiny flames dancing in midair, but it had feathers instead of membrane. And he could also see that the wing was covered with the dark red spots of blood, and the bone that connected the wing to the creature's hidden back was snapped in half, leaving it at an awkward angle. He reached over to the shattered wing, and gently stroked it.

"Ven, what are you doing?" Xion exclaimed quietly, shocked that her brother would touch something covered with blood. "You're gonna get infected if you keep touching it!"

"But it's unbelievably soft, Xi. Almost like cotton." Ventus replied as he gently ran his fingers through the large feathers. He ran them towards the tips of the wings, suddenly feeling something hard and rubbery. He gently parted the bloodstained feathers with his hands to find grey soles of a black leather boot. He lifted the wing up as slowly as he could, to find that there was a pair of boots on a pair of black jeans clad legs.

"Ven, what is that?" Xion asked as he saw what looked to be the bottom half of a human.

"It's a person." Ventus stated like a professor.

"No duh!" Xion said, annoyed at her brother slightly. "What I mean is, what kind of person is this person?"

"I don't know," Ventus said as he stared at the boots. "Let's lift the wing to find out."

"Are you crazy? You don't know if this person is dead or is faking it or…or…"

"Just be quiet! If this person was dead, you wouldn't hear him snoring." Ventus hissed to his sister, grabbing the odd wing and lifting it gently. He heard what sounded like a small hiss of pain.

"How would you know that it's a boy?" Xion questioned.

"Because he is," Ventus said as he saw the face of the person. Xion moved over next to her brother, gasping slightly at the sight of the person.

The person was curled up in a tight fetal position, his face touching his knees. His hair was a brilliant crimson color, fashioned in spikes around his head like a lion's mane. His small red eyebrows were scrunched up close together, making him look slightly angry at something, and he had small purple upside down teardrops just below his closed eyes. His black jeans and leather boots were the only clothing that he wore, and around his neck was a thick iron collar that looked like it should've been connected to something, and it looked like it was rubbing into his flesh, making it stained with old blood and scarring whatever you can see of his neck. Because he wasn't wearing a shirt, Ventus and Xion could see that the wings sprouted out of his back, a little bit below his shoulder blades. Whatever they could see of his bare chest were the bones of his ribcage. His arms were also incredibly scrawny, as if he didn't eat a thing for a few days. But it wasn't his physical appearance that made them shocked. It was the unnatural hue of his skin. Ashy gray, almost white, and slightly tinged with blue around his lips, nose, cheeks, and fingertips, sprinkled every now and then with blood. All of the tell tale signs of major blood loss and extremely low body temperature.

"There's no way he can still be alive." Xion said in her normal tone of voice. She immediately took back what she said when she saw his eyelid quiver slightly from her voice. His eye opened and fluttered slowly, showing his brilliant green eye color, so bright for someone looking so close to death.

"I'm…not dead?" he wheezed, his words slightly muffled from being so close to his knees.

"No you're not, sir," Ventus spoke up, making the man turn his eye towards him. "You're sleeping in a tree."

"I… know that… Are… they gone?"

"Who's gone?"

"The…carny people…Braig…Aeleus… Ienzo…" The man started to cough violently, causing Xion and Ventus to flinch back a bit.

"We should get you down from here and find you some help." Xion said as she tried to grab one of his icy arms.

"No one would help… a freak like me… a freak from the circus…" the man continued, sneezing this time.

"Well you're wrong about that. We're going to help you, along with the rest of our family." Ventus said seriously, a stern look on his features. He firmly gripped one of his arms and tried to yank him up. "You're coming with us whether you want to or not."

The man didn't try to resist as Ventus pulled him up to his knees. He let his wings go limp, with his left wing suspended in the air. Xion noticed what he was doing, so she reached up and tore off a sturdy looking twig from one of the many branches above her. She pressed it against the man's wing, who hissed slightly at the contact. Xion gathered up her courage and grabbed the broken wing, pressing the twig against the broken bone, making the man groan in pain. She unwrapped the scarf from around her neck and winded it around the twig and bone, making a crude cast for the broken bone. While tightening the scarf around the makeshift cast, she felt a small crater underneath her fingertips. She looked to find a blood encrusted hole with something sticking out of it. She tentatively touched it, hearing the man resist screaming out in agony.

"Xion! Whatever you're doing, stop it!" Ventus called out to her.

"Sorry, but I was just trying to make a cast for his wing, and I think he has something stuck on his wing here." Xion replied as she tried to get the man to shuffle forward towards Ventus.

"Why didn't you try to take it out?"

"Because I just barely even touched it when he almost started screaming."

"Okay then, I hear you. Just try to make him move faster, or else Mom and Dad are gonna have heart attacks if we're not back soon, and this guy might not make it."

"I have a name, you know…" the man muttered as he tried to move faster, following the blonde in front of him.

"What's your name, then?" Ventus asked.

"It's Axel…" Axel muttered before he broke out into a long series of violent coughing that racked his thin body.

"That does not sound good." Xion said from behind Axel.

"I'll…survive…What are your names?" Axel asked them both.

"My name is Ventus, but I like to be called Ven." Ven introduced. "And that girl behind you is my young sister, Xion."

"Hello." Xion greeted as Axel turned his head around to see her.

After a while they finally got to the lowest branch of the oak tree they were in. Ventus jumped down first, with Xion following him. They offered help to Axel, but he refused it and insisted that he could do it. He dangled his legs over the branch, slowly inching his way down the branch. He lost his grip on the branch, and he crumbled to the earth below him. Xion and Ventus rushed over, but he continued to insist that he was fine, when it was obvious that he wasn't. Chills were racking his body, making him tremble like a leaf.

"You're definitely freezing, Axel. And there's no way you are saying otherwise." Xion said seriously.

"So what are going to do about it?" Ventus asked his sister. Xion replied by taking off her oversized black sweater.

"Okay, that could work, but what about his wings?" Ventus said, gesturing at the wings.

Xion looked at the wings, and what was left of the scarf that dangled about. She grabbed the scarf and wrapped it around Axel's body, making his wings press up against his back. She then took the soft sweater and shoved it over Axel's head. The sweater was a bit large on him, making the bulk of his wings almost invisible, and the turtle neck hid the iron collar around his neck.

"Okay, now take his legs and I'll take his arms," Xion said suddenly to her brother.

Ventus stared at her, wondering what she meant by that. "Why?"

"Because we're gonna carry him home with us."

"But what about Mom and Dad? Especially Dad?"

"They're not gonna find out anytime soon with that sweater on him. Now are you gonna help this guy live or not?"

Ventus sighed as he took Axel's legs and carried him along with his sister.


	2. Miracle

Xehanort was furious when his brothers came back without Axel. He was practically frothing at the mouth as they explained the whole story to him about losing Axel in the forest after they shot him with the gold and silver bullet that he gave them and specifically told them to shoot Axel with.

"I told you to do just one simple task of finding a wounded person, and you lost him?" Xehanort yelled from behind his desk, trying hard not to explode as he sent the chair behind him crashing to the ground. They were in Xehanort's personal tent, some ways away from the main tent where all of their shows are usually held. His tent was rather lavishly furnished, with everything made up of silk or velvet in rich, dark colors. One would think that the instant they walk into the tent, they were swallowed up by a giant animal and was sent to one of the circles of the dreaded Inferno.

"He somehow managed to hide himself in the forest," Ienzo said, trying hard not to show the fear in his voice. "And besides, it was dark out, and it was raining cats and dogs outside, so there was little chance that we could even find him in the first place!"

"Did you even bother to look up at the tree tops to see if he camped out on there?"

Braig's eyes went wide as he realized his mistake. "How could I have forgotten about that? The guy's a natural acrobat, so of course he would climb on the trees easily."

Ienzo glared up at him. "If your memory was at least working on the times when we really need it, then this whole situation wouldn't be as it is now!"

"As if, Shorty!"

"What did you just call me?"

"QUIET!" Xehanort yelled, quieting the two quarreling brothers. He looked at both of the brothers in turn, and at the partially hidden Aeleus who was just standing near a corner, looking like he didn't want to be here at the moment. Finally, Xehanort sighed, a calm expression on his features. "Now, I'm sure you don't want to go out and look for him again because he is very troublesome. I have to agree with that, so I'll let you stop looking for him. Let him come to us instead."

The three brothers looked confused at Xehanort's words. It was Aeleus who spoke next. "Sir? I don't know if you remember correctly, but Ienzo had said that Axel will probably die of hypothermia or blood loss in a few hours or on the very next day. Are you saying that he is still alive?"

Xehanort chuckled slightly, as if it was a joke. "Of course Axel is still alive. He's a tough little boy, and he's suffered worse from us. He has to come back for the thing that matters most to him."

"And what would that be, Xeh?" Braig asked.

Xehanort grinned, making his face look demonic in the low light. He opened one of the drawers of his desk, and brought out a small, black wooden box that was intricately decorated with symmetrical, vine-like patterns, similar to Celtic designs. He lifted the lid of the box, setting it gently down on the smooth surface of his desk. The inside of the box was lined with soft black velvet, with a small piece of folded red velvet in the center, which Xehanort proceeded to pick up. He unfolded the red velvet with great care, making sure to not touch the object inside the cloth. He picked up a long silver chain necklace with a silver pendent connected to it. The pendent was circular, almost resembling the sun in one way, and a tiny weapon in another. It glimmered in the low light, shining like a tiny star as it caught and reflected the light in every which way, catching the attention of the three brothers as they stared at it in awe.

"His memories." Xehanort said finally, grinning even more widely as he stared at the tiny pendant in amusement.

* * *

><p>Vanitas was taunting his twin, Sora, to climb higher up to the tree tops, calling him a chocobo when he spotted his sister, Xion, and his younger brother, Ventus, carrying a body wearing only black and a huge mass of red hair on his head, reminding him of a lion's mane.<p>

"Warning! Lame bird watchers are approaching in eleven o'clock!" Vanitas yelled as he pointed at the direction he meant.

"But it's not even ten yet, Vani!" Sora yelled, holding on to the tree branch for all he's worth to prevent himself from becoming a Sora grease spot on the ground below him.

"He meant that Xi and Ven are coming from over there, Sora," Roxas clarified from the tree he was hanging on to.

"Oh…" Sora said, his cheeks getting a bit pink from embarrassment.

"Hey Xi! Ven!" Vanitas called out to them, trying to glimpse at the body to see if it's dead or not. "Did ya get that thing from a grave or something?"

Xion shot her brother a dirty look. "No we didn't, Vanitas. We found him sleeping in a tree, and he was freezing cold and is suffering from major blood loss, which is why he looks pale and slightly blue."

"His color is returning slightly, though," Ventus pointed out. "I guess he's kinda quick when it comes to recovery, but he's asleep for now, so just leave him be."

Vanitas slid down the tree easily, landing with a heavy thud on the ground. He walked over to where Xion and Ventus had set down the sleeping person next to a maple tree. He looked at the unnatural pale face, slightly reminding him of a ghost or a zombie. He knelt down next to the person and lifted the face up to see that the person is a male. He had rather stern but relaxed features, with a few drops of blood splattered here and there all across his face. He looked at the purple upside down teardrops beneath the closed eyes in wonder, trying to come up with reasons as to why someone would want such strange tattoos on their faces. He then looked at the large black turtleneck that he was wearing, immediately recognizing it as Xion's overly large sweater.

He turned towards his sister with a weird look on his face. "Seriously, Xi? You had to put your sweater on a _guy_?"

"He was _freezing_, Vani," Xion told him, shooting him a glare. "He wasn't wearing a shirt when we found him, so I gave it to him so he can get warm. I don't think he cares much, because even_ you _wouldn't care if you're freezing almost to death."

Vanitas smirked as he poked the guy's face roughly, laughing slightly. "I don't think so, Xi. I wouldn't wear that sweater even if it was the last sweater on the face of the planet. Honestly, I would feel kinda sorry for the guy, if he didn't look so girly and funny in it."

"He has a name, you know." Ventus grumbled, not happy at Vanitas's behavior to the poor man.

"Really, and what would that be, Venny?"

"Axel. A-X-E-L. Got it memorized?" Axel muttered suddenly as he glared up at Vanitas, effectively scaring him and his siblings.

"So he's alive?" Vanitas yelled, huddled up against another maple tree.

"No, I'm a zombie, know it all," Axel said sarcastically, rolling his eyes which were still slightly cloudy from sleeping. He looked at Xion, Ventus, Roxas and Vanitas, then he looked up to see Sora still dangling from a tree branch. "Stuck up there, buddy?" he said, then broke out in a violent series of coughing.

"Yeah," Sora said, slightly embarrassed to be in his situation. "Are you okay? You don't sound very healthy."

"Don't worry, I'll live," Axel said as he sneezed a couple times. "It's just a cold."

Sora raised a skeptical eyebrow at Axel, but he decided to say nothing. "I heard that you were sleeping in a tree. Why?"

"To hide from the carny guys, Braig, Ienzo and Aeleus," Axel answered, getting a few confused stares from the kids. "People from the circus," Axel clarified.

"Wait, you're from the circus?" Ventus said as he stared at Axel in disbelief.

"Slash freak show, but technically yes, I am from the circus," Axel said as he leaned up against the tree in a more comfortable position, coughing again. "And I'm glad that I escaped it. I hated it there."

"You hated being in the circus?" Roxas asked next, curious about why Axel would say that. "I've always heard that being part of the circus is actually really fun, and what goes on in there also sounds entertaining. Our parents have actually agreed to take us to the local circus here, which is the best one around, and you're saying that it's terrible?"

"I'm not saying it, I _know_ it. I used to be part of it, as a freak I mean, and I was supposedly their biggest prize because people from all around would come and see me. They might look nice and friendly at first, but beneath that smiling face are people who are more like demons than human. Most of the 'freaks' that they have on display are usually frauds, and believe me, I've seen them. I was not so easy to break in, so they constantly beat me and starve me, but that only made me even more stubborn and filled with anger, which they only used to their advantage. I was called the 'Demonic Angel' or the 'Fallen Angel', and with the anger that I have bottled up inside me, I would release it during the shows, making myself look even more demonic than I really am, and it amazes the crowds."

"You must've had it rough, then." Xion said, feeling sorry about Axel's past.

"Eh, it's not so bad now." Axel wheezed, going into another violent series of sneezes and coughs.

"Why were you called the 'Demonic Angel' if ya don't even have any wings?" Sora asked from up on the tree.

Axel chuckled slightly when Sora asked that question. "Ask your sister Xion and your brother Ventus, they will say different. I'll show you how they look like." Axel lifted the hem of the sweater over to his neck and pulling it over his spiky red hair easily, leaving the sleeves of the sweater on his arms. He turned around slightly so they could see his back. Roxas, Sora and Vanitas all gasped as they saw the strange wings tied together by Xion's scarf.

"Were you born with those?" Roxas asked him, getting a slap to the head from Vanitas.

"Of course not, Roxy! There's no way how someone could be born like that!" Vanitas said, not entirely believing what he was seeing.

Axel smirked at Vanitas's response. "Hey Xion? Mind loosening up the scarf so I could stretch my wings out?"

"Sure." Xion said, catching on with what Axel was planning. She gently undid the knot tying the wings down to his back, and stood back as Axel unfurled his wings out as far as he could. Vanitas stumbled back into his brother, causing the two of them to fall back towards the ground as they saw that the wings truly did belong to him. Axel chuckled lightly at their reactions as Xion tied his wings down on his back again, pulling the sweater over his head to cover them.

"That is so cool!" Sora called from above. "I didn't know that people could be born with wings."

"Neither do I, actually," Axel confessed. "You see, I don't know where I came from. All of my memories mostly consist of my time in the circus, and a bit before I was caught by them. That's just it."

"How could you not remember anything before that?" Ventus asked. "Do you have a memory issue or something?"

"No, I don't have any problems with my memories. It just seems like someone just took them all away somehow." Another long series of coughing.

"Are you sure you're not making any excuses about having a terrible memory?" Vanitas said as he raised an eyebrow and folded his arms across his chest.

"Yes, I'm pretty sure. Like I can remember that you haven't told me your name, but I caught your nickname, Vani. Your twin up in the tree didn't tell me his name, and neither did he." Axel said as he fought down a sneeze as he pointed a finger at Roxas, who was at the moment standing next to Ventus.

"This is my older twin, Roxas," Ventus explained. "That there is Vanitas, and his younger twin brother Sora up there on the tree. Vanitas is the oldest of our group."

"Okay," Axel nodded, taking in everything Ventus was saying. "And how old are you guys, anyways?"

"Vani and Sora are ten," Roxas explained this time. "Ven and I are nine, and Xi is the youngest at eight years old."

"So you're all really young?"

"Yeah, but Vani there likes to act older than he actually is."

Axel laughed softly at that. "Really?"

"Yep," Sora said from his tree, dangling around the branches and trying to get higher. "He likes to be the leader of things, to be the boss of us."

"Because I'm older than all of you guys," Vanitas called up to his twin in annoyance.

"But that doesn't necessarily mean that you have to be the boss of them," Axel pointed out, sneezing a couple times afterwards.

"Just how old are you, by the way?" Vanitas grumbled.

Axel was about to answer, but stopped, looking unsure about it. "I honestly have no clue. I don't know my birth date, or how old I am."

"Well that must stink."

"How old do you think I am?" Axel asked him, going into a round of loud sneezes, and then snuggling up against the trunk again to try to catch another quick nap.

"I think you're about twenty three." Ventus said.

"No, I'm pretty sure he's twenty five." Roxas told his brother.

"I think he's between twenty four and Dad's age." Sora said.

"I'm pretty sure he's around Dad's age." Vanitas said in a matter of fact tone to his brother.

"No, I think he's in his twenties. He looks like he should be twenty…four maybe?" Xion said.

"What's with the discussion of twenties and my age?" a male voice called out, followed closely by the sounds of footsteps trotting through the grass.

Xion smacked her hand to her head as she remembered the parent issue. "Oh great, we're so going to get it! What are we going to do, what are we going to do?" she whispered under her breath.

"What's going on in here?" the voice called out again, only this time the speaker came into view. He had spiky platinum blond hair and blue eyes similar to the kids'. He barely even finished his sentence when his eyes spotted Axel sleeping against the trunk of a tree.

"Dad, we can explain." Xion started, getting in between Axel and Cloud. Xion didn't even get the chance to speak when her mother, Tifa, walked up to the scene behind Cloud. She gasped as she spotted Axel just sleeping there next to a tree, a complete stranger with her children.

"Who is that?" Cloud said as he pointed at the sleeping Axel.

"Uh, Dad, meet Axel," Ventus spoke next. "Axel, if you're still awake, this is our dad, Cloud."

"Hi there," Axel muttered, opening one brilliant green eye just a crack to see Cloud.

"And that is our mom, Tifa, behind Dad," Ventus continued, gesturing to his mother behind Cloud. "And Mom, that's Axel."

"Why is he with you and your siblings?" Tifa asked, not taking her eyes off of the stranger.

"Ven and Xi said that they found him sleeping in a tree, Mom," Sora explained, hanging himself upside down from a branch. "Xi said that he was freezing cold and didn't have a shirt on, so she gave him her sweater. And I think he was probably in a fight because his face is all bloody, and he has—"

"Sora!" Ventus and Xion yelled in unison to their bigmouthed brother.

"What?" Sora asked them, not entirely getting the point at first, and then finally remembering. "Oh, right! Sorry 'bout that," he mouthed to them, but Ventus and Xion didn't understand him because he was mouthing the words upside down.

"Mom, Dad," Xion said as she took over the conversation. "He was freezing to the touch, and he was suffering major blood loss. If we left him on the tree, he would've died."

"He looks much better now," Cloud pointed out, seeing the light tints of color that was starting to return to Axel's face.

"He's still pale, Dad," Xion continued.

"Are you sure that's not his normal skin tone?" Vanitas pointed out.

"Vanitas don't talk. You're not helping me here." Xion snapped to her brother. He's so much more manageable in the mornings when he doesn't have the energy to be annoying, but he gets so irritating when he does have the energy to.

"Oh, I'm sorry, was I supposed to help?" Vanitas said sarcastically. His response was a glare from Xion.

"Mom, Dad, please? We have to help him!" Xion begged. "He's covered in blood, he's freezing, he's sick, he's—"

A very long and loud growl interrupted Xion. Axel opened his eyes and sluggishly looked up at everyone, feeling rather sheepish and embarrassed. "Uh, sorry, that was me. I've hardly eaten anything for, um… a week or two or so? Maybe longer? I don't know. I don't really keep track of time." Axel tried to let out a laugh to lighten up the mood, but instead broke out coughing. After his coughing fit ended, he curled up in a fetal position and used his arms as a pillow as he tried to sleep some more.

"Dad, Mom, we have to help him," Xion went on, being persistent about helping out the runaway circus freak. "We can take him with us and let him stay with us until he gets all better and is able to take of himself."

Cloud looked at his daughter, his expression soft and full of worry. "No, sweetheart. I'm pretty sure that he could probably handle it himself. You know that I care for you, and I don't want anything bad to happen to you, so taking him in with us isn't really something that I would consider safe, especially since he's a complete stranger that you and Ventus found sleeping in a tree."

"But Dad!" Xion continued. "That's not fair to him! He can barely even move an inch, and if we leave him out here, he might die or get captured by those guys he was running from."

Cloud tensed up. "He ran away from a bunch of guys? Did he tell you who those guys were?"

"Dad, he's not part of a gang or something like that. He ran away from a bunch of guys who were mistreating him." Xion said, careful not to mention that Axel was from the carnival or else Cloud will definitely say no.

Cloud was about to say something when he heard Sora begging for his attention by shaking one of the tree branches and causing racket.

"Hey Mom! Dad! Look how high up I am!" Sora yelled from the top of his tree.

Tifa gasped at how high up the tree her son was. "Sora! Get down now before you get hurt or accidentally fall off!"

"But Mom! This is so much fun!" Sora said as he tried to climb higher up the tree.

"Sora! Listen to your mother and get down here!" Cloud yelled up to his son.

Xion was about to join in with trying to convince Sora to get down when she noticed a flash of movement from the corner of her eye. She instinctively turned around to where she saw the movement, to see that Axel had suddenly sat up, completely alert and eyes wide open. He looked panicked, and he was staring out into space, muttering something in some unknown language while digging his fingers into the ground, the skin around his knuckles turning completely bone white from the strain.

"Axel what's wrong?" Xion asked him cautiously, worried that he might've lost his mind. He did nothing to show that he heard her, he was just continuously muttering in the strange language faster and faster, often times muttering some words in Latin.

Xion was about to call his name once more when he stopped muttering random words and gibberish, and looked up to where Sora was on the tree, staring hard at the branch he was on. He then got up and sprinted up the tree before Xion was even able to process what he doing. He clambered up the tree like an acrobat, reaching to where Sora was. Sora himself was holding onto a branch when he heard the loud _snap _of the tree branch breaking beneath his weight. He felt himself hurtling towards the ground, screaming, with the strange thrill feeling of falling making his stomach feel weird. The world around him was a confusing mixture of blurred colors, with the ground being the only clear thing he can focus on. Sora thought that he was going to surely become a Sora grease spot on the ground when he felt a pair of thin, long arms being wrapped around his sides and held him close to a warm, yet slightly cold form, making him seem like he was flying away from the tree he was on. The body turned around in midair, making Sora look up at the sky before he felt the impact of the figure hitting a thick cluster of bushes, causing the branches of the bushes to snap loudly, similar to the sound of bones breaking. The impact left him breathless, and the arms that held on to him lost their grip on his body. He heard it go crashing through the undergrowth as he tried to sit up. He felt okay, save for a few cuts and scratches caused from the bushes. He tried to shake off a couple of the twigs and leaves from his hair when he heard someone crash through the undergrowth. He looked up to see Xion looking for him some ways away. When she turned around and spotted him, she let out a sigh of relief.

"Sora!" she yelled to her brother, partially hidden from her view from the thick undergrowth. "Are you okay? You're not hurt, are you?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine, Xi. Don't worry about me," Sora said once Xion caught up to him, trying to catch her breath. "But, the thing that I wonder about the most is how I got pushed in midair, got sent rollin' into some bushes, and didn't even break any bones."

Xion looked into her brother's eyes, concern still in them. "Did you feel anyone grab you when you were falling, Sora?"

Sora became slightly confused how Xion knew that. "Well, yeah, I did, but I didn't see anyone. Why? Did someone grab me?"

"Yes! How could've you not seen him?"

"Seen who?"

"Axel. He's the one who grabbed you. He had climbed up your tree like an acrobat, which is surprising because of his major blood loss. But before he did that, he was literally tearing up the ground, muttering something weird in a funny language, but I recognized some of the words as Latin. It was strange, though, he had jumped out of the tree and grabbed you, sending the both of you into the bushes, but he made sure that you were facing up, using his body as a shield to protect you from breaking anything." Xion paused, renewed panic creeping into her eyes. "Sora, where is he?"

Sora widened his eyes, realizing that he didn't even know where Axel is. "I don't know! He let go of me once we hit the ground. The last thing that I can remember was that I heard him rolling through the bushes, away from me."

"Well, get up! We have to find him to make sure he's okay!" Xion said as she grabbed her brother's hand and helped him up.

"How are we going to find him? These bushes are super thick! There's no way we can find a guy in here unless we had some of those bush trimmer things. What were they called again? I can't remember."

"Hedge cutters? Or shears?" came Roxas's voice from behind them. Sora and Xion turned around to see their older brother standing there with Ventus.

"Hey, Roxy, hey Ven," Xion greeted them both. "Where's Mom, Dad and Vani?"

"They're coming, don't worry," Ventus said. "Roxy and I ran ahead because we wanted to catch up with you. How'd you run that fast, Xi?"

"Ven, that's not really important right now at the moment. Right now, Sora and I are trying to find Axel cuz we lost him!"

"How'd you lose a grown up guy like him?" Roxas questioned.

"I don't know! Are you gonna help us find him or are you just gonna stand there all day and talk?" Xion said as she looked around the undergrowth with Sora. Roxas said nothing as he and Ventus started to look too. They didn't get too far with searching when they heard Vanitas and their parents running through the undergrowth.

Tifa let out a sigh of relief as she saw that Sora was okay. She ran over to him and crushed him in an embrace. "I'm glad you're safe!"

"Mom!" Sora complained as he tried to get out of his mother's hug, embarrassed about the situation he was in. "Mom! Let me go! I can't breathe!"

"I'm sorry, sweetie," Tifa said as she let her son go and patted him gently on his head. "Your father and I were just really worried that the worst might've happened. At least it didn't."

"Yeah, because Axel saved me. Did you see it happen, cuz I didn't, but Xi told me about it."

"Yes, I saw it happen. We all did, actually."

"But why did he save you is what I wonder," Cloud said out loud to Sora. "He doesn't even know you very well, so why did he do it?"

"I dunno, Dad," Sora answered as he shrugged. "I guess he wanted to?"

"I found him!" Roxas cried out from a thick cluster of bushes. Instantly Xion, Sora and Ventus raced over to see him.

Axel was lying on the ground unconscious, slightly curled up in a fetal position. The sweater that Xion let him wear was torn, exposing some of his wings and pale skin. He had a few cuts and scratches, and he was bleeding some, but it was nothing too major. What Xion was really concerned about was how Axel's arm was bent in an unnatural way. He was still breathing, but his chest was shaking slightly from every breath he took.

"Mom, Dad," Sora called out to them. "I think we might need your help over here."

Tifa and Cloud raced over to where their children were. Vanitas, not wanting to feel left out, followed them half heartedly to where they were gathered.

"Mom, I think Axel's arm is broken," Xion said as soon as her parents came over.

"Really, which one?" Tifa asked as she stood her distance away from Axel. Even though he might've saved her son's life, she still views him as a stranger.

"His right arm. See how's its bent weirdly?" Xion said as she gently lifted up the thin arm for her mother to inspect. "Right here, on this bone."

"It's his humerus, honey," Tifa answered. "And yes, you're right, it is broken pretty badly. I think he snapped it completely in half."

"That's gotta hurt a lot." Sora piped up.

"Yes it does, but I'm sure he'll be fine," Tifa said as she looked at Axel's scratches and cuts and the torn sweater he was wearing. She then spotted something strange through the holes on the back of the sweater. It appeared to look almost like red feathers.

Tifa reached over and grabbed the hem of the torn sweater to see what it was. Xion noticed it and panicked. "Uh, Mom, I wouldn't do that if I were you—!"

Tifa gasped at what she saw. Xion was about to serve an explanation about the wings when she saw a bit of Axel's belly. It was scarred horribly; the skin forming hideous lumps that looked like huge worms had borrowed into his skin. Most of the scars were centered on the middle of his belly, where all of his guts would be in, and it was a huge mass of knotted skin. The dark, knotted skin was rough and partially infected, with some of the fresher scars oozing scarlet blood from being opened by the bushes. The sight was so horrific to even describe in words for Xion, so she quickly shut her eyes tightly and looked away, holding a hand to her stomach and the other to cover her mouth, as if she was going to be sick at any moment. Tifa, however, was used to seeing things like this, so she continued on to remove the torn sweater, only this time even gentler than before. As she moved her hands quickly around to remove the sweater, she felt the softness of feathers underneath her fingertips. Pretty soon, she uncovered Axel's torso from the sweater, but still leaving it on his arms and neck, revealing to her his demonic looking feathery wings. She wasn't sure what to think at first about the wings until she noticed that the long, slender appendages holding the wings together were connected to his back, just a bit above his shoulder blades.

Cloud was watching the whole thing in silence, his face a mask of indifference, the complete opposite of how he was feeling in his head. He knew what those wings meant; he saw them before on a flyer. _For the circus and freak show_. The flyer he saw was about the same circus that his kids were pleading him and their mother about endlessly to go. It showed promises of being unbelievably entertaining with all of their different sights that they have to offer. From what Cloud can remember about the flyer, it showed different people with various deformities on it. There was a two headed person, one head being a female with dark, emerald green eyes and yellow blonde hair, the other being a male with sky blue eyes, a pale goatee, some piercings and platinum blonde hair. There was another person that looked more like a wolf than human, and he had a curious amber-gold eye color, and unnatural powder blue hair. There was even a pink haired person with goat legs, a merman with a sitar, and the six brothers that started the whole circus. Axel was part of the background, his demonic looking wings spread out, his back facing the viewers. His head was turned to appear that he was looking over his left shoulder, the bottom half of his face being the only thing that you can see of his face while the top half was covered in shadow. His mouth was twisted in a grin, revealing his teeth and unnaturally long canines that looked eerily a lot like fangs from a vampire. Cloud was pretty sure that the picture was doctored to look like that, but now that he's actually seeing the freak in person, he's not so sure anymore.

"So that's what he meant." Xion muttered quietly, bringing her father back to earth.

"Excuse me?" Cloud asked his daughter.

"Axel said that he hated being in the circus, which is why he ran away. He didn't tell us that he got whipped like that; he only told us that the people working there are mean and cruel, and that they beat him and starve him."

"What about the others that worked alongside him?"

"Well, he said that they would break them in, so I guess they beat them, too. But they mostly hurt Axel because he was stubborn and didn't listen to them, so they hurt him constantly, and he would get anger from the pain he was getting, and he would release it when they were doing the shows."

"It's a wonder," Tifa muttered under her breath as she inspected Axel's scars and counting his ribs that stuck out hideously. "Normally, a person would've died right about now, with the blood loss and hunger, and with some infections to top it all off. It's really a miracle that he's still living and breathing."

"Is he gonna be okay, Mom?" Xion asked her.

"I don't know, sweetheart. He probably won't live, and anyone in their right minds would've given up on saving him from dying."

Xion looked at her mother with wide eyes, then back at Axel's sleeping form, concern written on her face. She then closed her eyes, and her facial features grew stern and serious as she opened her eyes once more. "Well, I'm not in my right mind right now," Xion declared finally. "I want to help him."

"Are you sure? Cuz Mom just said that he's probably gonna die—" Sora said, but was interrupted when Xion gave him a glare.

"Don't you want to help him? He saved your life, now we have to save his. That way, you guys are even." Xion told him.

"So you're basically saying that we have to take him home with us?" Sora said as he pondered on that for a moment. "Eh, okay. I'm okay with that."

"I don't think so, you two," Cloud intervened in their conversation. "I don't think it's a very good idea to bring him into our household. You might not know whether or not he's still working for the circus."

"But he's a nice person, Dad!" Xion pleaded. "You just need to give him a chance and get to know him. Please?"

Cloud sighed, not liking the situation he's stuck in. "No, and that's final. He can take care of himself, so just leave him be."

"I dunno, Dad," Ventus said. "We have to take him with us, because he saved Sora's life."

"Yeah, and you have to thank him in some way," Roxas added. "So why not help him out? We'll be saving a life!"

"A _freak_, nonetheless," Cloud muttered.

"Yeah, but he's still a person! Just like all of us!" Xion said stubbornly.

"How about we do a vote?" Vanitas suggested. "Those in favor in helping him out, raise your hand." Immediately, Xion's, Sora's, Ventus's, and Roxas's hands shot up in the air. "Okay, looks like the opposing side is outvoted."

"Okay, now you have to carry him, Dad." Xion said to Cloud. He was about to oppose, but one look at Xion's face meant that she was serious about it.

He sighed, knowing fully that nothing is going to change her mind. "You are a very persistent girl, Xion. I can never win in an argument against you."

"So are you saying yes, and that we can help him?"

Cloud kneeled down on the ground, picked up Axel and slung him over his right shoulder, slightly surprised at the lightness of the body. "Yes. Now let's go home."

"Yay! I love you, Daddy!" Xion said as she hugged her dad tightly and ran off with her brothers following her.

Tifa walked up to Cloud, laughing softly at him. "You certainly are prone to giving them what they want, aren't you?"

"Am not," Cloud objected. "That's you, not me."

Tifa laughed some more as she walked off to gather her children and take them home. Cloud followed her, with Axel still slung over his shoulder and sleeping peacefully.


	3. Strange Whispers

_He raced across strange trees in the middle of some unknown woods in the dark. The branches seemed to reach down to grab at his hair and wings, trying to scratch his face. He tried to swat them away, but they kept reaching down and trying to scratch out his eyes. His face soon became bloody, making him go blind. He soon fell face first to the ground, his face stinging from the open scratches from the tree branches._

_He then tried to crawl away, but somehow the branches managed to bend down and slash open new wounds on his back, like he was being whipped by a leather cat o' nine tails whip. The branches kept whipping him, and he tried to swat them away, only to have the branches scratch his hand. One of the branches grabbed his wrist, and it felt like a human hand was holding him in an iron grip. It didn't exactly feel forceful or painstakingly tight around his wrist, just only enough to restrain him. He felt another hand reach over to his eyes, wiping away the blood from his eyes, letting him be able to see again._

_He looked over to where the branch was holding him, only to find that it was actually a human hand. It was illuminated with a white light, faintly glowing around the skin of the person. He looked up to see the person's face, a male face. His skin was bathed in the light, brighter so around his face so that it wasn't showing any visible features, with the only exceptions being two dark spots where the eyes would be, the faint outline of eyebrows above them, the outline of a nose, faint lines forming the lips, and the dark color of hair on the head._

"_You're giving up already?" the man asked him in a teasing tone. "Come on, Axel. I'm sure you're stronger than that. Why don't you just get up and walk with me? There's something I want to show you."_

"_I can't right now, little brother. For some reason, I'm hurting," Axel told him, trying to stand up. "I'm injured in some way, and I need your help this time."_

"_Well, that's the first that you've ever asked me that, big brother. How 'bout I give you a hand, sound fair?"_

_Axel saw the man glow brighter, and the light bathed him in a warm whiteness, but in the process, the figure of the man was fading away. Axel reached out to him, not sure why he is doing so._

"_No, wait, wait! Don't run away from me again, little brother…!" Axel cried out as he tried to grab the man's hand again. He was disappointed and upset to feel nothing in his desperate grasp to grab his so called "little brother." Instead, he saw the scenery around him change into a white barren landscape, and then he saw it plunge into darkness. He now felt his limbs, one of his wings broken and his humerus of his right arm was busted up as well._

_He thought he heard someone or some people speak, but he couldn't quite understand the words. He then felt his body being lifted and carried to somewhere, being set down someplace else, and then being picked up again. He heard more noises, most of which sounded slightly like children's voices, the others sounding a bit older. He felt his body fall onto something soft, and his back started to sting as some kind of cool liquid was rubbed on there. He was positioned onto his side, his head elevated on something soft and downy, like a pillow filled with cotton._

_His body moved once again, and his eyes could detect a bit of light now. He was now lying on his back, and some sort of round piece of warm metal touched his lips, demanding entrance into his mouth. He parted his lips slightly, and the metal piece moved upwards a bit, letting a bit of warm broth from some sort of soup enter his dry mouth. He licked greedily at the metal, demanding more as some of the juices slipped down the sides of his lips. More came into his mouth, trying to keep up with his constant demand for it._

…

Eventually, Axel's eyelids started to flutter open every once in a while, squinting against the bright light as he basically tried to suck the spoon away from Tifa's grasp. With some help, she and Xion had already took off the ruined sweater and the scarf around his wing appendage, cleaned his body from his spilt blood and treated the multiple scratches on his back and belly with some rubbing alcohol, and took off his leather boots so it won't ruin the couch he was currently residing on. After a bit of a scavenger hunt, they found some gauze and wrapped it as best they could around Axel's broken right arm and wing appendage.

"How is he, Mom?" Xion asked her. She had just come back from her expedition of finding a light blanket to cover Axel with to keep him warm. Ventus had volunteered to give her his soft moss green blanket, and she had accepted it gratefully.

Tifa gave her a quick glance over her shoulder before returning her attention back to the patient before her. "He's doing fine, although if I'm not careful, he might suck the spoon out of my hand and eat it."

Xion giggled lightly as she gently placed the soft blanket over Axel's exposed, heavily scarred chest. "I don't think he would do that, though. I think he's just really hungry."

"Yes, I know. I just hope that he's only hungry for the soup and not for the spoon."

"Speaking of soup, I think you might need another bowl pretty soon, Mom," Xion pointed out as she eyed the near empty bowl.

"I think you are right," Tifa said as she scooped up what's left of the soup from the bowl and poured it into Axel's open mouth. "But we can't give him too much to eat, or else his stomach wouldn't handle it."

"What do you mean that his stomach wouldn't handle it, Mom?"

"If a person goes for long periods of time of eating very little or maybe nothing at all, their stomach would shrink slightly, and if they eat way too much, even though they are hungry, they could die from it because their stomachs wouldn't handle all of that weight." Tifa explained as she walked to the kitchen with the empty bowl.

Axel moaned from where he was on the couch. Xion turned to look at Axel, who was now trying to come into full consciousness. He rubbed his eyes and sat up, slapping himself with his left arm a few times on his face. His right leg had slipped off of the couch, and the sudden movement startled him into full consciousness. He looked all around his new surroundings, still rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He looked down at the soft, moss green blanket that was partly covering him, picked it up and wrapped it around his shoulders like a cape, and then he focused his attention to Xion.

"Hey… Xion, right?" Axel asked, his voice sounding soft and feeble.

"Yes, Axel," Xion responded softly. "How are you feeling?"

"Like someone poured a bucket of acid down my back again."

"Oh, that was the rubbing alcohol, actually. My mom and I were trying to disinfect your cuts." Xion said, saying the word "disinfect" slowly so she could pronounce it correctly. She was about to say something else when she remembered the exact wording of what Axel had just said. "Wait, you had acid poured down your back before?"

"Yep, millions of times. That's how my back got this knotty and bumpy look to it, like maggots were crawling their ways in and out of my back—"

"Please don't say any more!" Xion yelled as she covered her ears with her hands. "That sounds really painful and gross at the same time!"

"That's because it is. Which reminds me, can I have some more of that soup that someone was feeding me earlier? It tasted really good, and I'm still kinda hungry."

"Coming right up!" Tifa said as she came into the room holding another bowl of hot soup with a towel wrapped around it so she won't burn her hands.

Axel's eyes gleamed as he looked at the bowl of food, and he was about to get up to get it himself when he stumbled to the floor facedown, still weak from losing so much blood. Xion rushed over to help him, but Axel just unfolded his wings and spread them out, similar to how a bird does whenever it's about to fly. He tried to flap his wings as he tried to get back up on his feet, but he only managed to succeed in almost breaking another bone appendage as it slammed hard against the coffee table next to him, with the green blanket adding on some extra weight and making it feel awkward for him.

"Whoa! Axel, calm down, or else you're gonna break another bone!" Xion warned as she tried to get him to stop moving his wings by holding on to them.

After about a minute of struggling to get up, Axel finally grew tired and gave up. He waited until Xion finally let go, folded his wings as neat as he could against his back, rolled around so he was facing the ceiling, and raised his left arm up for help. Tifa set the bowl of soup down on the coffee table, and helped him up while Xion grabbed the blanket from the floor.

"Sorry about that. I'm just really hungry." Axel said simply as he was finally resettled back on the couch. Xion swiftly walked over to him and placed the green blanket on him, covering up most of his scarred chest.

"I think we can see that by now," Tifa said teasingly as she settled next to Axel with the bowl in her hands. She dipped the spoon into the soup, brought it back up filled to the brim with the warm liquid, blew it to cool it down, then carefully brought it down to Axel's mouth. He drank it gratefully but slightly sloppily, with some of the juices dribbling down the corners of his mouth.

Seeing this, Xion bolted over to the kitchen, grabbed a paper napkin, and then ran back into the living room. As soon as Tifa finished feeding Axel a spoonful, Xion dabbed the napkin around the wet corners of his mouth, cleaning him a bit from the sticky juices of the soup.

Axel said nothing the entire time they were feeding him. Instead, he started dozing off as he nearly finished his second bowl. By the time that he had cleared the second bowl, he fell asleep easily, feeling happy, warm, full, and somewhat clean for the first time in what felt like a lifetime to him.

After feeding him, Tifa went into the kitchen and tossed the bowl inside the sink so she can wash it later. "Xion, when your brothers come in, tell them to be quiet so he can sleep, okay sweetie?"

"Yes Mom!" Xion called out from the living room.

Tifa had barely had enough time to go up the stairs and close the door to her room when Sora, Roxas, Ventus and Vanitas came inside the house from playing outside with their dog, a huge black shaggy dog about the size of a small black bear. Sora ran over to where his sister was in the living room, peeling off his black, white and yellow jacket and letting it fall to the floor. He stood next to his sister, looking at Axel's sleeping form.

"Is he really asleep this time?" Sora asked cautiously to Xion in a loud whisper.

"Yeah, he just fell asleep 'bout a minute ago," Xion whispered back.

"Xi, why does he have Ven's blanket?"

"Because Ven let me have it for him to use it."

"Do you think he's a heavy sleeper like Ven and Roxy?"

"You're a heavy sleeper too, Sora. But I don't know if Axel is a heavy sleeper. He might be, though, by the way how he fell asleep so fast."

"Is his right arm and his wing really broken?"

"Yep, Mom and I just wrapped them in gauze. He kinda reminds me of a mummy now."

"Do you think he's gonna be okay?"

"Did you know that you ask too many questions?" Xion asked, getting irritated by her big brother. "And yeah, I do think he's gonna be okay."

"Oh, okay. That's good I guess." Sora said as he looked at Axel's sleeping form in silence, for about ten seconds. "I have some more questions, though."

"Is this starting to be the twenty questions game?" Xion asked him, obviously annoyed.

"No, I just want to ask some stuff."

"Okay, go ahead."

"Do you think Vani is gonna be annoying to Axel?"

"He's always annoying, just like you. The only difference between you two is your hair color, what you like and how you act."

Sora stuck his tongue out at her in annoyance. "Do you think Dad is gonna get used to Axel?"

"Probably not, cuz Dad's like that sometimes. I think Mom is already used to him, though, which is good."

"Do you think Axel will like our relatives and friends when they come over?"

"I don't know. He probably won't show his face to them, cuz he's from the circus and all, and I don't think he's that open to strangers, except for us, probably."

"Do you think Axel will be nice when they do come over and accidentally see him?"

"Well, yeah, of course. You have to be nice when meeting other people, but Vani for some reason likes to break that rule. I don't know what we're gonna tell everyone when they see him, though."

"Do you think Axel likes us, cuz we saved his life?"

"Maybe, but it's too soon to say right now. You can ask him once he wakes up. Is that all of the questions?"

"Nope, there's one more! Do you think… wait for it…! Do you think…Axel likes dogs? Cuz he looks like a cat person, not a dog person."

Xion stared at him in silence for a few seconds, letting Sora's question sink in. "I don't know. That actually is a good question, because we don't know if he's allergic or not. We'll just have to ask him once he wakes up."

Xion and Sora both turned around to the sound of the door being opened from the kitchen, the soft click of claws on the floor, and Vanitas's signature slamming of the door as Ventus's and Roxas's voices were heard, talking to the dog in strange voices.

"Hey! Be quiet! Axel's trying to sleep!" Sora yelled as he walked over to the kitchen with his brothers and their dog.

"Sora, you need to be quiet, too." Xion said as she followed him to the kitchen. She briefly paused to pat their dog, Sam, on his head before turning to scold her brothers. "You guys really need to learn how to be quiet! Axel's trying to sleep right now."

"Oh. Sorry, Xi! We should probably let Sam out, then, so he won't wake him up," Ventus said as he walked after Sam who was wandering towards the living room, whistling softly to get his attention.

"Ven, you keep forgetting that the best way to get his attention is by giving him a treat." Roxas said as he dashed out of the room to the pantry to get the dog treats.

"So, how long do you plan on keeping him?" Vanitas asked his little sister.

"Until he gets better and is able to get around on his own," Xion answered him. "But right now, we all need to be quiet and let Axel sleep."

"WOAH! THERE'S A HUGE DEAD RAT IN HERE! AND IT'S SMELLY AND GROSS AND IT'S FAT! COME ON, GUYS! YOU GOTTA COME AND SEE IT!" Roxas screamed from within the pantry.

"Roxas! What did I tell you about being quiet?" she yelled back as she walked over to the pantry door.

"BUT IT'S HUGE AND GROSS AND SMELLY!"

"Roxas! I'm in the pantry already, and the door is open, so stop yelling already!" Xion said as she marched over to where her older brother is standing.

Roxas was still wearing his white and black jacket, and in his arms he was holding the box of dog treats. His eyes were glued to the floor at his feet, where a big brown mass of fur lay limp and unmoving. "This is so gross…" Roxas muttered under his breath.

"Ew! Roxas, get away from that thing! You don't know if it carries diseases or not!" Xion yelped.

"But it's so cool! I've never seen a dead rat before!"

"Then why were you yelling about how gross and disgusting it was?"

"Oh, because I wanted you guys to see it."

Xion slapped her hand to her forehead. Sometimes brothers are like aliens. "Whatever, just get out of there and we'll tell Mom—"

"SAM! DON'T LICK HIM-! HEY, SAM! XIOOOOOON! ROXAAAAAAAAS! SORAAAAAAA! VANITAAAAAAAAAS! HE'S NOT LISTENING TO ME! AND IF YOU DON'T COME NOW, HE'S GONNA-!"

_THUD!_

Everyone soon heard laughter from the living room, with the same voice unsuccessfully trying to say "Stop it!"

Xion, Roxas, Sora, and Vanitas all raced over to the living room to help Ventus with whatever problem he might have. When they got there, however, they were greeted with the sight of Axel sprawled out on the floor, laughing uncontrollably with Sam licking his face happily.

"Uh, what happened?" Roxas asked his brother.

"Well, I was trying to get Sam, right, and when he saw Axel, he started to lick his face, and then he woke up and got up, but he was walking rather weirdly, and then Sam sorta pushed him a little bit, and then he slipped on Sora's jacket, and he fell, and now he's like that." Ventus said, pointing to where Axel lay helpless with the dog smothering him completely with licks, wagging his tail with happiness.

"Sam! Come here, you crazy mutt!" Roxas said as he took out one of the doggy treats from the box. Sam looked up for one second at the treat, then back at Axel who was now trying to get up with some help from Ventus. He did that until Axel stood up completely, and then he pounced on him again, covering him once more with his wet kisses.

"Sam!" Xion complained as she pried the dog away from Axel. "Sorry about that, Axel. He didn't mean it."

"Nah, it's alright. I love dogs! They're cool." Axel said as he sat up with some difficulty and patted Sam's head. "So his name's Sam, right? I take it that he's a Chow-Chow and black Retriever mix?"

"Uh-huh. I dunno who his parents are. We just found him in the place where they keep different animals, and Roxas begged, and begged, and begged, and BEGGED some more until Mom and Dad finally let him keep Sam." Sora explained.

"That place that you're talking about is called a Humane Society, bolt-brain," Vanitas said as he smacked the back of Sora's head.

"Ow… Don't do that, Vani!" Sora whined.

"Can someone help me up?" Axel said as he raised his arm. "I can't feel my legs much."

"Wow, you're weak…" Vanitas muttered under his breath. Xion heard it and flicked his forehead in annoyance.

"Behave!" she whispered. Vanitas said nothing.

Ventus, Roxas and Sora all went over and tried to help Axel up. Ventus draped Axel's broken arm gently around his shoulders, Roxas draped the other arm around his shoulder, while Sora tried to keep him steady by keeping a hand on his back. They mostly dragged Axel back over to the couch and covered his body with Ventus's green blanket. Almost instantly, Axel fell back into a deep slumber.

"He's a quick sleeper," Ventus noted.

"Congratulations, you've just achieved the rank of Captain Obvious," Vanitas muttered.

"You should seriously be nicer to your brothers, Vanitas." Axel said, raising a finger without opening his eyes. He effectively scared everyone in the room, with the exception being Sam who trotted over happily, wagging his tail as he sniffed Axel's arm as he set his arm down.

"He's a quick, light sleeper," Sora said.

"That's kinda scary," Roxas added.

"No kidding." Xion finished.

Soft, light footsteps came down the staircase. The five kids all turned around to see their mother with her black purse and their father, who looked rather upset and unsmiling.

"Okay, you guys," Tifa said in a hushed whisper so she wouldn't wake up their guest. "Your father and I are going to the store. Any of you five want to come?"

All five raised their hands.

"Alright, then get your jacket, Sora, and let's go." Cloud said as he opened the door and walked outside.

"Dad, you need to be quieter next time!" Sora said as he picked up his discarded jacket and went outside with his father. The rest of the boys walked outside as well, leaving Xion and Tifa still inside the house.

"Mom?" Xion asked softly.

"Yes, sweetie?" Tifa said.

"Do you think that Axel is going to be okay on his own? What if he wakes up and finds that we're gone? Would he leave?"

"No, he wouldn't. Well, more like he can't. He still has to recover and regain all of that blood that he lost, the doors are going to be locked so no one can get in or out without the key, and Sam would just tackle him to the floor if he tries to get up."

Xion giggled. "You heard that?"

Tifa unsuccessfully bit back a laugh. "Of course I heard that. Those boys aren't exactly the quietest people around here, are they?"

"No, you're right. Oh! By the way, I just remembered that Roxas had found a huge dead rat in the pantry when he was going to get the doggy treats for Sam."

"Which are all over the floor right now," Tifa said as she looked down on the hardwood floor. The different multi-colored dog biscuits were scattered all over the floor away from the box from where they came from.

"We can clean it up once we get back." Xion said as she raced out of the house towards her brothers.

Tifa just shook her head as she watched her only daughter leave. She looked back towards were Axel lay sleeping, as if making sure that he was asleep, then she got up herself and left, making sure to lock the door behind her.

…

"Hey Xeh?" Braig asked Xehanort cautiously. "I was wonderin', how are we going to keep up the show biz if our biggest prize and everyone's most sought after and favorite is gone, for, you know, probably good?"

"He's not dead, if that's what you're wondering," Xehanort answered.

"Oh, okay, that's good to hear," Braig said, rubbing the back of his head uneasily. "But, uh, how exactly do you know that, or are you just that confident that he isn't dead?"

"I know for a fact that he isn't dead," Xehanort said as he picked up the silver necklace that he had shown Braig and the others before. "It's impossible for him to do that. If he did die, it would be the irony of all of time."

"But surely everyone dies eventually, right? Except for angels and demons and ghosts and stuff like that."

Xehanort said nothing as he continued to look at the necklace in his hand. He had the pendant dangling on its chain, letting it catch the light that the tiny flames of the candles gave off, making it shine and throw off silver streaks of light. Still holding onto the chain, he flung it up and caught the pendant in the middle of his palm, trapping it inside darkness as he closed his hand over the pendant.

"Maybe I should let you in a little secret, but you must never tell anyone, or else your head is history." Xehanort said to Braig.

Slightly taken back by the threat, Braig stammered to himself before regaining his composure. "Uh, okay. So there's a big secret on Axel? Go ahead and tell me, Old Timer. I've known you the most and I'm the closest to you, and you know I'll never spill anything or rat out on anyone unless I'm paid in my weight in diamonds."

Xehanort grinned a Cheshire smile. "That's good to hear. Well, I guess I have to start from the beginning in order to thoroughly explain it to you. But first, about that problem about replacing Axel, well, that's simple. I've already found someone that is his splitting image, and shares his blood."

Braig stood there with a confused expression on his face as Xehanort placed the necklace on his desk and walked over to a wooden door that was painted a deep red, like blood. He opened it and walked inside. As soon as he walked inside, he walked out with another person with wings identical to Axel's. The person was a male, and his head was covered with a brown sack, with his hands tightly bound in front of him using a leather cord. He was shirtless, with only a pair of black pants being the only article of clothing on him.

"He's a special case, Braig," Xehanort said. "He looks exactly like Axel, except for just one small thing…" Xehanort then removed the sack from the man's head. His head was an exact replica of Axel's, with the only exception being that he had red tattoos that looked like dashes close to his eyes.

"Whoa," Braig said, looking closely at the man, who was staring curiously back at him. "Is this guy his brother or something?"

Xehanort said nothing as he grinned. "His name is Reno. Normally, his hair would be shorter, but I made him grow it out, so that way he looks exactly like Axel. As for his tattoos, that can easily be solved with face paint. For now, he needs to get used to everyone around here, so I would suggest that you have to show him around the place before he gets shown on stage."

"Whatever you say, Xeh," Braig said as he looked back at Reno. "Can he speak?"

"Mostly Latin, but he will learn along the way," Xehanort said as he took a steel knife and began picking his teeth with the wickedly sharp blade, not cutting himself even once. "But I will have to remind you to keep a very close eye on him. I don't want to lose him like how we lost Axel. Also, Reno is the key to getting Axel back."

"But I thought that you said that we're just going to forget about the guy." Braig said, confused at what Xehanort had just said.

"Oh no, I won't be able to forget about my most valuable prize just yet. I want my 'Angel of Death' back, and the other one who had managed to escape my grasp years ago, because of Axel."

Braig looked back at him. "'Other one?' Who's that?"

Xehanort chuckled softly, and to Braig it sounded demonic. "I prefer to keep that secret to myself."


End file.
